Description
I got the idea for this tank from Lord-Vanaduke . He used a Russian T-10 and upgraded it. If you check his out you will see the differences. His is from a different alternate world so I did change some of his world to mine.
T-15U Mauler Heavy Main Battle Tank
Specifications:
Type: MBT
Weight: 57 tonnes
Length: 34 ft 10½ in (including gun)
Height: 9 ft 7 in (including commander's weapon)
Width: 12 ft 6 in
Crew: 4 (commander, driver, gunner, loader)
Armor: 203 mm front of the turret
150 mm sides of the turret
150 mm sides of the turret
64 mm rear of the turret
39 mm top of the turret
97 mm upper front of the hull
99 mm lower front of the hull
79 mm upper sides of the hull
20 mm lower sides of the hull
46 mm rear of the hull
20 mm floor of the hull
Main armament: 122mm D-24A-52 smoothbore main gun, 25mm co-axial autocannon , 13.2mm mounted on commander's cupola
Engine: V-72 V- V-12 water-cooled diesel
HP: 1,250
Transmission: 5 + 1
Suspension: Tracked
Ground clearance: 16.73 in
Fuel capacity: 132 gal internal, 105 gal jettisonable rear drums
Operational range: 150 mi internal, 250 mi w/barrels
Speed: 41 mph (on-road), 30mph (off-road)
Armament:
1 X D-24A-52 122mm smoothbore main gun, fitted with thermal sleeve, fume extractor, and muzzle brake, 25 rounds of ammunition.
1 X 25mm co-axial autocannon
1 X 13.2mm mounted on commander's cupola.
2 X 47mm unguided anti-personnel incendiary short-range rockets, inside two four-barreled rocket pods, one on either side of turret
Designed for the T-15 fourth-generation MBT, the Mk.24 uses low-vulnerability (LOVA) solid propellants, which reduce the risks of an explosive chain reaction if the propellant is breached.
Muzzle velocity: 1850 m/s
Weight: mount - 5500kg; barrel - 2000kg
Barrel length: 6.832m
Effective range: 6km with APFSDS; 10.9km with LAHAT tank-fired ATGM
Shell types: APFSDS, HEAT, LAHAT, HE, HESH
Price: Mk.24 $1.4 million, LAHAT $80000, APFSDS $3000, HEAT $2500, HESH $2400, HE $2000
Protection:
Upper frontal glacis: 800-1300mm RHA effective armor, arranged in a pike-nose
Lower frontal glacis: 700-900mm RHA effective armor
Turret: 1100mm RHA
Spaced side armor to minimize losses to shaped charge warheads, particularly from shoulder-mounted AT weapons
Explosive reactive armor slots available on top of turret, upper frontal glacis, and side armor
8 aerosol grenades for smoke screen, 4 on either side of turret
"Iron Curtain" package, including a laser dazzler (located below co-axial infrared spotlight), laser warning receivers, missile targeting jammer (soft kill), and Iron Curtain generator (located at the rear of turret, hard kill)
Mobility:
1250 HP liquid-cooled 12-cylinder diesel engine gives the 57 ton tank a healthy 21.93 P:W ratio
Top speed (on-road): 41mph
Top speed (off-road): 30mph
Operational range: 320-400mi
Background:
The latest in Tropican tankery, the first production models of the T-15 rolled out of the factories just in time for the much-anticipated action in Syria in 2015. Its fearsome 122mm gun tore apart defensive positions from unprecedented ranges (Tankists often joked that they were their own self-propelled artillery). A few months into the war, however, design flaws such as the awkward turret layout and vulnerability of the large spherical co-axial auto cannon port started to take its toll as the now-experienced ISIS tankists rejoiced at the lack of ERA protection around the turret and the glaring weak spot of the co-axial mount00. To address these issues a Scarab Anti-Tank Missile System was installed in 2016while the Boch Design Bureau began working on an upgrade package and in 2017, the Politburo announced the new T-15U model was ready for mass-production. This upgrade package included the new and advanced "Iron Curtain" generator as a hard kill countermeasure as well as to compensate for the lack ERA around the turret while supplementing the ERA on the hull, as well as minor differences such as a muzzle brake to improve artillery performance on the main gun, raw armor thickness increases on the frontal upper glacis plates, and spaced armor along the sides to counter infantry-based ambushes.
By far the most prominent feature of the T-15U upgrade package was the inclusion of the Iron Curtain generator. In its activated state, the device generates a series of extremely strong outward magnetic pulses that acts as a force field around the vehicle for the duration. Any metallic projectiles that come in contact with the pulses of magnetic energy are destroyed, deflected or slowed down to harmless velocities before they can trigger the single-use ERA blocks wherever they are mounted, resulting in a practically invincible tank for a short duration. Thus, the valuable technological secrets behind the Iron Curtain are only accessible to and well guarded by the very top of the Russian elite. However, the Iron Curtain is extremely power hungry, and drains 90% of available engine power while active, rendering the tank immobile. In this state, external batteries provide power for turret rotation and traverse as well as to the electronics inside instead of the engine. The Iron Curtain must not be activated for more than a minute at a time and without at least a two-minute cool down period for fear of engine damage from overheating. Nearby infantrymen wearing the standard-issue metallic assault armor may be tossed around and possibly killed by the sudden burst of magnetic energy as well.
Another drawback of the T-15U, although separate from the controversial Iron Curtain active protection system, was the fact that the muzzle brake, intended to improve long-range artillery performance, somewhat affected the accuracy of APFSDS rounds at mid to long ranges when it was first introduced. However, by 2018, a new 122mm APFSDS round was developed specifically for the T-15U.
The T-15U proved to be a huge improvement over the T-10 and gave ISIS commanders something to fear. The NATO codename for the T-15U quickly changed from "Kodiak" to "Mauler" as it smashed through defensive positions with ease. The T-15U are invisible to the eye, and many Tropican tank aces developed a strategy to give ISIS tank crews the illusion the Iron Curtain was on while it was on cool down by simply turning down engine power, effectively turning a weak point into an exploit. As ISIS fell, none T-15Us were destroyed by ISIS forces during the removal of Apu Bakr al-Bigdadi.